Star Trek says good-bye to a friend
by susan cousineau
Summary: This is a tribute to Checkov It cannot be exact on the time of his death as my story is an original to the series. I have placed Kirk and Spock on a peaceful mission with the Romulans which takes place over a year from the first movie, at which age Chekov was seventeen I did approximate his age to be 19 at death.


Captain James T Kirk and his best friend had been assigned to the Romulan ship for the past year. It had been a trying time, and yet they both had learned much from their Romulan friends. Yes, they could call the members of their ship friends.

It was on a Wednesday evening that Kirk and Spock got the message that the Star Ship Enterprise captained by their beloved Sulu was going to be meeting them for a training mission. Here they were in the middle of nowhere with a chance to meet their old friends and see their beloved Enterprise.

Captain Jernak willingly gave the captains chair up to Kirk for the meeting of the ships. He had turned out to be quite an intelligent man with a family and a love of space. Jim Kirk and he had become good friends.

As Sulu pulled the enterprise into the same space as the Romulan ship Kirk felt a bit of envy. Yes he had been given the chance to meet his friends here on the Romulan ship, however, there were times when he wished he could have his old ship back.  
"Sulu it is good to see you." Captain Kirk called to the other captain.  
"And the same to you my friend."  
Captain Kirk looked at the bridge and saw his old friends Chekov Bones and Uhura. It made him homesick, and as he looked over at his friend and first officer Spock he wondered if just a little of the human in him was feeling the same way. They both looked at each other for just a moment and Spock went back to his counsole.  
"It would be an honor for you to join us tonight on board this ship." Kirk offered. "The food banks are getting much better at making earth food and I think that you will find the food delightful.  
"It will be an honor for us to sit down to dinner . It has been too long a time." Sulu told him. "I will bring with me many of your old friends." Sulu smiled and shut the communication off. They would see each other soon enough.  
Promptly at six pm the crew from the enterprise arrived on the Romulan ship. Kirk introduced his new friends Captain Jernak Galvina and Dr. Natavia. Sulu and his friends from the enterprise were surprised at how healthy and happy Kirk looked. Even Spock looked good, the time with the Romulans had been good to them.  
Dinner was a gala affair with many old war stories being traded between the men of the enterprise and the Romulans. There was no Romulan ale served as consuming the drink tended to have a bad effect on the men and women of the enterprise. They would start their training tomorrow morning.  
At eight am prompt the training session started. The session started with six Romulans coming onto the enterprise and six people from the enterprise coming onto the Romulan ship. This would be the first time that two ships as large as these were to work together, it was with great hope that someday both civilizations would consider themselves true friends. Although, things had always been tense between the two worlds it did seem that things could be worked out between them.  
The training exercise consisted of each ship coming within 500 meters of each other. This was a very dangerous exercise since one false move and they could collide. They did ride side by side for over three hundred miles, a first for both ships. The next ship was Scotty the engineer from the enterprise and Eli the first engineer of the Romulan ship were to compare the differences between the two transporter systems and also go over the engines and different things that each ship had. They would be trying each of the ships to the hilt. Some of the things that they had planned to do were dangerous, but Kirk trusted both of the engineers. He knew them both to be honest and hard working and very good at their job. The Romulan ship had a much faster transporter than the enterprise, however, the enterprise could go almost twice the speed of the Romulan ship.  
Each time that the ship was challenged things seemed to be going well. Scotty and Eli had corrected (what they thought) a problem with the transporter. It was then that Kirk's friend ( and all of the members of the enterprise) went to go back onto the enterprise. As soon as the transporter started things went wrong. Scotty and Eli tried their best to pull Checkov back but were unsuccessful . On that day Checkov the nineteen year old navigator never came back to either ship.  
Kirk did not want to give up, but he knew that there was nothing that could be done. With a heavy heart he boarded the enterprise to pay a tribute to his friend Checkov. He will always be remembered as a brave man with a kind heart. Because of Checkov everyone on the enterprise's bridges life had been bettered.


End file.
